UPDATE: WEST CHESTER -- Authorities Friday filed criminal charges against a Chester Springs man in connection with the fatal shooting of his neighbor's two family pet dogs.

Gabriel Pilotti, 72, was charged with cruelty to animals and recklessly endgangering another person for killing two of his neighbor's pets.

"There was no justification for the killing of these two dogs," said Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan. "The defendant has been charged and will be charged and will be dealt with appropriately. Our sympathies go out to the family and children who lost their beloved pets."

The Bernese Mountain Dogs, 1-year-old Fiona and 2-year-old Argus, were killed with a shotgun after they escaped from their fenced-in yard in the unit block of St. Anthony Lane. The Bock family, the dogs' owners, said they got out of the yard through a hole in a fence caused by a falling tree limb. The family was not aware of the fence's damaged section because it was not visible from the home, Bock said.

Once on the loose, Bock said, the dogs made their way through several nearby properties and ended up at Pilotti's home on Pine Drive, where they were shot after apparently chasing several sheep.

WEST VINCENT -- The Chester County District Attorney's Office is expected to release new information Friday in the shooting deaths of two family dogs in Chester Springs last week.

According to a statement from a District Attorney's Office spokesperson, authorities will release "significant" new details related to the killing of Argus and Fiona, two Bernese Mountain Dogs who were shot on Feb. 12 after they escaped a fenced-in yard in the unit block of St. Anthony Lane.

The District Attorney's Office previously determined that the shooting was legal due to a century-old state law allowing someone to kill animals that pursue their own livestock or pets.

Officials said Thursday afternoon that investigators received additional information in the case and that the investigation is ongoing.

Mary Bock, the owner of the two dogs, spoke out Thursday about the experience and expressed hope that her pets' deaths may lead to a change in the law that allowed their killing to initially be ruled legal.

Bock also spoke about the neighbor, Gabriel Pilotti, who told police he killed the dogs with a shotgun because they entered an enclosure housing his sheep. She said Pilotti expressed no remorse over the dogs' deaths when her husband, William Bock, confronted him last week.

"It seemed like he almost enjoyed it a little bit," Mary Bock said. "He was so cold and callous, he feels like he did nothing wrong. There were a million things he could have done differently, and he chose to pick up that gun and kill them."

The dogs, 2-year-old Argus and 1-year-old Fiona, were shot less than 15 minutes after escaping the Bock's two-acre property through a fence that was damaged by a falling tree limb several days before. The dogs eventually made their way to Pilotti's nearby property, where they began an attempt to "herd" his sheep, Bock said.

Bock, who has five children between the ages of five and 11, said she was out looking for the dogs with her 5-year-old son after she noticed they were no longer in the backyard within five minute of putting them outside. Driving through the neighborhood, Bock came across a police vehicle parked near Pilotti's home. The officer appeared "jumpy", Bock said, and told her she would need to wait because he was "dealing with something."

Bock later learned that the officer was responding to Pilotti's call reporting the shooting, she said. The officer was unaware that Bock was the dogs' owner.

According to state law, "any person may kill any dog which he sees in the act of pursuing or wounding or killing any domestic animal, wounding or killing other dogs, cats, or household pets, or pursuing, wounding or attacking human beings, whether or not such a dog bears the license tag required by the provisions of this act. There shall be no liability on such persons in damages or otherwise for such killing."

Despite the fact that Pilotti told police the dogs made no contact with his sheep, authorities had no choice but to determine that the shooting was legal because the dogs were attempting to herd the sheep.

Officials sympathized with the Bock family's loss, but noted that the facts of the case, as they were known Thursday, indicated the shooting was legal.

"We sympathize with the family that lost their dogs," First Assistant District Attorney Michael Noone said Thursday. "However, based upon the facts as we know them and current Pennsylvania law, there are no criminal charges that are appropriate in this case."

Bock said that she hopes the incident may lead to a review of the law's language to allow for better protection of family pets that pose little threat to other animals.

"It's a little bit antiquated, it needs to be tightened up a little bit," she said, adding that the family has already scheduled a meeting with state Sen. Andrew Dinniman, D-19th of West Whiteland, next week to discuss the possibility of changing the legislation. "If something good comes out of this, if their short lives can serve some sort of positive purpose, then maybe in some way this can all be worth it," Bock said.

Pilotti did not answer requests for comment Thursday, and no one answered the door of his home